


A Ladies Choice

by Jarakrisafis



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-02
Updated: 2011-10-02
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jarakrisafis/pseuds/Jarakrisafis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a known fact, queens and greens were female and chose girls, so how did the original riders feel when the first greens chose to impress to a male?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Ladies Choice

Daniel sighed as the last of the hatchlings, a small brown impressed. This was his sixth hatching, and yet, not even one dragon had so much as looked at him. Perhaps he wouldn’t attend anymore. Let other people have a chance. After all, everybody was always saying how the dragonriders were taking much needed workers.

He glanced over at the Queen, Siglath, who was watching the newly impressed rider lead the brown towards the exit and food.

He started for the exit with the rest of the men who had not impressed, leaving the women to crowd around the couple of greens that were left.

The sound of confused yells behind him caused the men to stop and turn around to find the source. Daniel winced as he saw the last green hatchling stumble across the sand, completely ignoring the females who were trying to catch her attention.

“What’s wrong with her?” One of the other men asked as the green ploughed nose first into the sand before pushing herself up with a pained cry. “She’s going to hurt herself.”

“Perhaps she wants somebody down there.” Daniel said as he indicated the room filled with ravenous hatchlings and the people helping to cut meat.

The men backed up as one as the green purposefully wobbled her way towards them, they knew that the hatchling was uncoordinated and could injure them as she tried to get passed. They could vaguely hear one of the riders calling all the unpaired females helping to cut meat to move to the entrance in case the green wanted one of them.

Nobody wanted the hatchling to go between because it didn’t find a partner.

 _Why are you running?_ Daniel blinked as the green swung whirling red eyes towards him.

The green ignored the new females who were trying to get her attention, her eyes continuing to whirl with the reds and oranges of distress. Daniel took a deep breathe as several emotions seemed to sweep through him, distress, anxiety, pain, his nose hurt, and hunger, a deep all encompassing hunger.

But it wasn’t right, Daniel knew that, she couldn’t want him, he was male and she was female.

 _Why should I not want you?_ The distinctly feminine voice asked, _you are mine and I am yours._

He was by her side before he realised he had moved, his legs folding beneath him as he put a hand onto her back, still damp with egg fluids, the other caressing the soft hide above her eyes.

 _I’m hungry._ She said, the distress of not finding her partner now giving way to the need to eat.

“Well?” Sean asked as he appeared beside the new pair as if summoned.

 _I am Ayath._ His, HIS, dragon put in before turning red whirling eyes onto him again. _Meat?_ She asked in a wistful tone.

“Her name is Ayath.” He dutifully repeated to Sean. “She’s hungry.” Daniel rose shakily to his feet to lead his dragon, to lead Ayath down to the food.

* * *

“But I thought there was a gender discrimination?”

Sean shrugged. “Ayath has made her choice. We’ll simply have to deal with it.”

“And when Ayath rises?” Somebody asked. Daniel felt his eyes widen as he contemplated that.

“Do what the Queens do, have another partner standing by.” He wasn’t sure who had suggested that, but at least somebody other than Sean had accepted that what had happened had happened.

* * *

“So, Daniel, yes?”

He nodded to the women who had suddenly surrounded him, blocking him off from the knot of riders and other folk surrounding Sean and Sorka and the still continuing argument over Ayaths choice. They were vaguely familiar but he had tended to sit apart from the female candidates, preferring the company of his fellow men.

“I’m Carrie, I don’t know what all the fuss is about, my Tarrith said that your Ayath had made a good choice before she fell asleep.” A tall dark haired woman was the first to speak.

“Same here, they’ve been telling us to listen to our dragons in all these lessons and now they seem to be ignoring their own advice.” The next speaker was shorter, and had a wild mane of brown curls. “I’m Sara by the way, bonded to Seyovath.”

“Talma, partner to Barweth, we thought, as a fellow green rider you might like to have some friends, especially when we start flying and you end up with only us girls for company.” She grinned.

“Errr, thanks.” He managed as Carrie refilled his wine glass. “Come on, stop looking so down. This is the last chance to have some fun before our little monsters awake and demand our constant attention.”


End file.
